Mailman Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger (Astaire) is delivering letters to the North Pole. Many of the letters ask questions about Santa Claus and other Christmas traditions. S.D. tells the story of Santa's origin.
Kris (Rooney) was raised by the Kringle family, who teach him to make toys for children. The Kringle family long to share their toys with children, but cannot cross the mountain and the Winter Warlock (Wynn). As a young man, Kris makes the trip and delivers toys to the children of Sombertown. However, the Burgermeister Meisterburger (Frees) who runs the town has outlawed toys. Can Kris change Meisterburger and Sombertown?
This film is a stop-motion Rankin-Bass Christmas classic.
The Good:
As usual, the voice cast is excellent. Fred Astaire is a good Narrator and gets to sing the title song. Keenan Wynn is good as Winter Warlock. Rankin-Bass regular Paul Frees gets to ham it up in multiple roles. Mickey Rooney is a decent Santa. He would continue to voice Kris Kringle/Santa Claus in 3 subsequent Rankin-Bass Christmas movies: The Year Without a Santa Claus in 1974, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July in 1980, and A Miser Brothers' Christmas in 2008.
The Bad:
Some parts and songs did not age well. "Be Prepare to Pay" is cringey, but catchy. And "My World is Beginning Today" is very fated.
Other Comments:
-The best song, outside of the title song, is "Put One Foot in Front of the Other".
-It's good and has become a Christmas classic that plays on TV and streaming services every year.
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) 51 minutes
Director: Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass
Starring: Fred Astaire as Special Delivery "S.D." Kluger
Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle
Keenan Wynn as Winter Warlock
Robie Lester as Miss Jessica
Paul Frees as Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, and more
Joan Gardner as Tanta Kringle
0 comments:
Post a Comment